Does talking to plants actually help them grow?

It turns out that there may be some truth to the (1) … that talking to plants helps them grow, but not for the reasons you may think. According to ScienceNet, plants need carbon (2) … to grow, and when you talk to a plant, you (3) … on it, giving it an extra infusion of CO2. But if you want to have any real (4) … on your favorite fern, you would have to spend several hours a day conversing with it in close quarters.

The idea of talking to plants was introduced in 1848, when Dr. Gustav Theodor Fechner, a German professor, suggested the (5) … in his book Nanna (Soul-life of Plants). He believed that plants were capable of (6) … , just like humans, and you could promote (7) … growth by showering your plants with attention and talk.

In his book “Training of the Human Plant”, Luther Burbank, a renowned botanist and inventor of the Burbank potato (better known as the Idaho potato), wrote that plants may not (8) … the spoken word, but they were capable of telepathically understanding the meaning of speech.

And in 1970, New York dentist George Milstein released “Music to Grow Plants By”, a record of (9) … to play for your plants. In fact, a few studies seemed to (10) … that classical or soothing music would benefit plants, while (11) … aggressive music, like rock music, could cause them to wither and die.

But in fact there is little concrete (12) … that talking to your plants or playing music for them will help them grow, but we say if you enjoy it, by all means, do it. Just don’t let the neighbors catch you!

Task 18. Read the text and translate it in the written form:

propagate – размножать

frugal – скромный

novice – новичок

Aloe plants

I love Aloe plants. They’re cheap, they’re easy to grow and propagate, and they’re useful!

To be truthful, I generally don’t have good luck with house plants. Even the hardiest of indoor plants has been known to die in my care. Even so, I’ve had great luck with Aloe plants. There are many types of Aloes, but I stick with Aloe Vera, because I once most commonly used for medicinal purposes, and the easiest type to find. They really appeal to my frugal nature. The ones I had didn’t cost me a cent, they were babies from a friend’s plant.

I have a bunch of aloe plants right now, sunning themselves out on the deck. I have a couple of larger plants, then some babies I’m growing to a decent size for gift giving. Aloe plants make great gifts. I can almost always find cute decorative pots for the babies for a quarter or so at yard sales.

I’ve only had a few years of experience with Aloe plants (although my Grandparents always had one in their kitchen). Some people have plants that are 20 years old or more. The father of a friend of mine has a potted Aloe, with lots of babies, that must be three feet wide. I hope mine will do as well! I’m still an Aloe novice.

A lady at a farmer’s market once told me that Aloes grow better in terra cotta pots. So, the next year when I was replanting the babies, I put a few in terra cotta, and a few in hard ceramic or plastic posts. She was right- the plants in terra cotta pots definitely did better. I usually let the baby plants grow until they are crowding the pot, and then I’ll separate and re-pot them (usually in spring). I’ve heard that you should leave the babies out of a pot for a couple of weeks before re-planting. I don’t do this- but would perhaps have more success if I did. As it is, I just re-plant the babies I separate off the main plant, and hope for the best.